This is a continuations of some ideas I put together in a previous post: Archaic Suns: Fading Suns, World Building, and Ahistorical Trappings. Here I offer a proof of concept for a world/faction building playbook.
INTRODUCTION
The basic idea of this is to collaboratively build an “archaic space” setting. It follows in the footsteps of Fading Suns and Coriolis. There are playbooks for each of the major setting factions. The first part lets the player(s) define what the faction broadly looks like within the setting. The second part helps them define what their particular shard of the faction looks like.
This builds on concepts from The Veil primarily, but present elsewhere, which gives players who choose a particular playbook the chance to build the world their playbook most interacts with. Some of the playbooks will have overlap– or choices which impact on one another. The final version will provide guidance for where those connections might be.
ATM here are the factions I’m envisioning and what they define. There are some assumptions built into my structure: Some technology has been lost, decay, forgotten, and/or banned; interstellar travel is possible; if Earth exists, we’re so far removed in time or space that it is a story; humans dominate but aliens exist outside human space; there is a system of nobility, though its status may be in question; there is an institution of religion which I’m calling The Church though it may be informal or unstructured, but it is dominant; there may be an oppositional or rival institution of religion which I’m calling The Faith.
The basic idea of this is to collaboratively build an “archaic space” setting. It follows in the footsteps of Fading Suns and Coriolis. There are playbooks for each of the major setting factions. The first part lets the player(s) define what the faction broadly looks like within the setting. The second part helps them define what their particular shard of the faction looks like.
This builds on concepts from The Veil primarily, but present elsewhere, which gives players who choose a particular playbook the chance to build the world their playbook most interacts with. Some of the playbooks will have overlap– or choices which impact on one another. The final version will provide guidance for where those connections might be.
ATM here are the factions I’m envisioning and what they define. There are some assumptions built into my structure: Some technology has been lost, decay, forgotten, and/or banned; interstellar travel is possible; if Earth exists, we’re so far removed in time or space that it is a story; humans dominate but aliens exist outside human space; there is a system of nobility, though its status may be in question; there is an institution of religion which I’m calling The Church though it may be informal or unstructured, but it is dominant; there may be an oppositional or rival institution of religion which I’m calling The Faith.
- Nobles: Defines the institution of nobility and where is stands now. Establishes details about the forms of power in the setting: their reach, means of control, etc. At the player level, builds a particular House
- Church: Defines the most widely spread theological system. Defines what that looks like (animistic, polytheistic, abstract philosophical). At the player level, develops Orders within the Church and paranatural powers, if any.
- Faith: Defines a religious or philosophical system which is not dominant, and likely in opposition to existing structures. Gets to say what defines religious alternatives or schism. At the player level, develops Sects within the Faith and paranatural powers, if any.
- Guilds: Defines social, capitalist, or similar institutions outside of the Church or Nobility: Merchants, Criminals, Scholars, Pirates, Media, etc. Shows us what kind of groups have power and independence within the setting. Has potential intersections with the Spacers and Technos. At the player level, develops Branches within the Guilds and their areas of control or expertise.
- Spacers: Defines what both interstellar and in-system space travel looks like within the setting. How it works, who has access, what is required for it. Also defines how much life occurs off worlds in space-stations and the like. At the player level, develops Fleets and defines their character’s ship.
- Technos: Defines which technologies exist, which have fallen, which have been banned, and what the gray areas are surrounding that. Gets to define the form and shape of technologies (nano, biological, solid state) as well as what things might be more common (automatons, basic think machines, cybernetics). Choices will intersect with whichever power group(s) acts to maintain restrictions. At the player level they get to define their Company which trained or supported them.
- Psykers: Defines the existence of psychic powers within the setting: how extensive are they, what talents exist, how are they viewed, who has control, what powers or groups cause problems? At the player level defines their Family of psychic talents, found or biological.
- Aliens: Defines the number, reach, and relationships of Xenospecies, especially as those relate to human space. Gets who say which are friendly/unfriendly, if there’s an imperial structure outside, if species exist within human space, and so on. At the player level they define their particular species: history, biology, interactions, powers.
- Yeomen: Defines what the mass of humanity looks like– and how they respond to the power structures which exist. Defines who lives outside the system, who is co-opted by it, who serves, and who rebels. At the player level, they get to define their own origin story and how they rose to take their life into their own hands.
DEFINING THE NOBILITY
EXTENT AND STRUCTURE OF THE NOBILITY (Choose one or more)
A handful of large noble houses
A handful of large houses, each with a few vassal houses
A large number of smaller houses, with some joined in alliances
A few dominant houses ascending and a balance of similar houses in decline
Several dominant houses counterbalanced by a larger number of smaller houses
A large number of houses kept balanced or restricted in size
One singular empire with houses being factions within
Two houses at odds
(Other)
THE NOBILITY IS GOVERNED BY (Choose one or more)
A strong central imperial authority governing the houses
A weak or decaying central imperial authority governing the houses
Houses operate independently
Houses join together in a council or multiple councils
A strong group of electors drawn from across different groups reins in the houses
A weak group of electors drawn from across different groups tries to keep order
Another group (Church, Merchants, Scholars) holds authority of some kind over the houses
A rotating or elected system governs the houses
Two authorities vie for control and authority over the nobility
Elaborate Bureaucracy
Theatrical Rituals
Formalized Code(s) of Action, Behavior, and Warfare
(Other)
THE CURRENT STATE OF THE NOBILITY IS (Choose one)
The nobility is on the ascent
The nobility is recovering from a crisis or catastrophe
The nobility is decaying
A few are on the rise and the rest decaying
A few are collapsing and threatening to drag down the whole of nobility
It is a mixture of those on the rise and those declining
It is a volatile mixture of rise and decay, with constant and sudden changes
The current status is unclear and obfuscated
(Other)
THE NOBILITY HISTORICALLY MAINTAIN CONTROL VIA (Choose one or more)
EXTENT AND STRUCTURE OF THE NOBILITY (Choose one or more)
A handful of large noble houses
A handful of large houses, each with a few vassal houses
A large number of smaller houses, with some joined in alliances
A few dominant houses ascending and a balance of similar houses in decline
Several dominant houses counterbalanced by a larger number of smaller houses
A large number of houses kept balanced or restricted in size
One singular empire with houses being factions within
Two houses at odds
(Other)
THE NOBILITY IS GOVERNED BY (Choose one or more)
A strong central imperial authority governing the houses
A weak or decaying central imperial authority governing the houses
Houses operate independently
Houses join together in a council or multiple councils
A strong group of electors drawn from across different groups reins in the houses
A weak group of electors drawn from across different groups tries to keep order
Another group (Church, Merchants, Scholars) holds authority of some kind over the houses
A rotating or elected system governs the houses
Two authorities vie for control and authority over the nobility
Elaborate Bureaucracy
Theatrical Rituals
Formalized Code(s) of Action, Behavior, and Warfare
(Other)
THE CURRENT STATE OF THE NOBILITY IS (Choose one)
The nobility is on the ascent
The nobility is recovering from a crisis or catastrophe
The nobility is decaying
A few are on the rise and the rest decaying
A few are collapsing and threatening to drag down the whole of nobility
It is a mixture of those on the rise and those declining
It is a volatile mixture of rise and decay, with constant and sudden changes
The current status is unclear and obfuscated
(Other)
THE NOBILITY HISTORICALLY MAINTAIN CONTROL VIA (Choose one or more)
| Access to Interstellar Transport Addiction Appeal to Abstract Concept (Honor, Chivalry, Loyalty) Appeal to Faith Arbitrary Violence Capitalist Exploitation Celebrity Complex Mythologies Contractual Obligation Control of Resources via Monopolies Control of Special Technologies Co-optation Divine Right Division and Encouraging Internal Strife Elaborate Bureaucracies Environmental Control | Fear of the Other Food Imperial Sanction Intense Propaganda Local Autonomy Military Strength Patronage and personal loyalty Promises of Mobility Restricted Paranatural Powers Secret Police Supposed Benevolence Systems of Communication Threats Wealth (Other) |
OUR HOUSE
Name:
Symbol:
Colors:
HOUSE’S AGE (Choose one)
Uncertain or Obscured
Melded from Houses of Varying Eras
One of the Oldest Houses
Descended Directly from the Founding Houses
Venerable, but not among the originators
A few centuries old
About a century old
Second generation
Recently Created or Split
(Other)
MY HOUSE CONTROLS (Choose one or more):
A specific market
A resource
A service
An institution
A space station
Part of a planet
A moon
Multiple planets within a system
A system
Planets spread across multiple systems
Multiple Systems
(Other)
LEADERSHIP OF MY HOUSE (Choose one or more)
Changes during key decision points
Comes via signs and portents
Is chaotic, dangerous, and rapidly changing
Is chosen in competitions or contents
Is chosen through sophisticated tests
Is divided among a small group (2+) of leaders
Is elected
Lies in the hands of an eternal leader
Lies in the hands of the senior member of the house
Lies in the hands of those cunning enough to seize it
Lies in the hands of those strong enough to take it
Moves back and forth in factions or unions
Remains matriarchal
Remains patriarchal
Rests in the hands of a council
Rotates regularly
(Other)
MY HOUSE IS (Choose one or more)
Decaying slowly
Experiencing a change in leadership
Hiding its true status
On the brink of collapse
Only surviving through expansion
Propped up by outside forces
Recovering after a crisis
Solid and united
Splintered and divided within
Stable, but whispers run among the family
Taking on new powers and authority
Trapped in the past
(Other)
MY FAMILY WANTS (Choose one or more)
Alliances
Changes to the Social Order
Control of an Institution
Destruction of a Group
Equality
Expansion
Fame
Fear
Forbidden Things
Honor
Knowledge
Marriages
Power
Restoration
Return to a Glorious Past
Revenge
Security
Simple Survival
Staunch Allies
Supremacy for The Church/The Faith
The Throne
Uncertainty from Others
Wisdom
(Other)
My family emphasizes this/these means of control (see Nobility list):
My family avoids this/these means of control (see Nobility list):
MY HOUSE’S VALUES AND REPUTATION (Choose up to three for each)
(Put a checkmark before to indicate something your House values; put a checkmark after for something others believe you to value or be)
| Aloofness Ambition Anarchy Balance Beauty Calculation Changeability Communalist Conspiracy Creativity Decay Deception Duty Emotion Egalitarian Esotericism Faith Fashion Frugality Generosity Grace Health Hedonism Heresy Hierarchical Historicism Honor Imagination | Impatient Impulsiveness Intelligence Intolerance Joy Loyalty Martial Skill Mercy Patience Peace Persistence Physical Prowess Planning Process Revenge Ruthlessness Sacrifice Scholarship Selfish Skepticism Stability Stoicism Stubbornness Technical Knowledge Thoughtfulness Tolerance Wealth (Other) |
MY HOUSE IS KNOWN FOR ITS PROFICIENCY WITH (Choose three)
Arts: Acting, Aesthetics, Animatronic Puppetry, Architecture, Brewing, Choral, Composition, Culinary, Dance, Fashion, Gaming, Hagiography, Holography, Hosting, Leathercrafting, Literature, Make Up, Opera, Painting, Perfumery, Poetry, Portraiture, Popular Media, Restoration, Sculpture, Smithing, Social Planning, Sports, Tattooing,
Martial: Air Power, Artillery, Combat Medicine, Demolitions, Energy Weapons, Guns, Melee Weapons, Military Engineering, Recon, Sea Power, Shields, Siege, Soldiers, Space Power, Strategy, Swordplay, Unarmed Combat, Unconventional Warfare, Vehicles,
Cultural: Advertising, Analysis, Anthropology, Archaeology, Bureaucracy, Community Management, Companionship, Diplomacy, Economics, Faith, Finance, History, Investigation, Journalism, Labor, Law, Linguistics, Management, Management, Media, Messengers, Mysticism, Negotiation, Philosophy, Political Analysis, Priesthood, Psychohistory, Psychology, Research, Sales, Scholarship, Service,, Sex Work, Social Modelling, Theology, Wilderness Survival, Xeno-Cultural Knowledge,
Science & Engineering*: Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, Biology, Botany, Chemistry, Civil Engineering, Climatology, Cosmology, Epidemiology, Forestry, Forensics, Genetics, Heavy Industry, Hostile Environments, Manufacturing, Mathematics, Medicine, Mining, Physics, Predictive Analysis, Preservation, Recycling, Spacecraft, Technological Engineering, Terraforming, Theory, Weaponry, Xenotech, Zoology,
Unorthodox*: Assassination, Blackmail, Counterintelligence, Decadence, Deception, Espionage, Exploration, Fencing, Forgery, Forbidden Tech, Heresy, Indoctrination, Information Brokerage, Insurgency, Memory, Organized Crime, Piracy, Propaganda, Psychic Talents, Sabotage
*The fallen tech level and what kinds of technology are restricted will impact these choices
THE ENEMIES/ALLIES OF MY HOUSE ARE (Choose two of each)
A Church Faction
A Conspiracy
A Faith Faction
A Former Ally
A Great House
A Lesser House
A Peer House
An Alien People
An Alliance of Houses
An Institution
Criminal Underworld
Merchant Faction
Psykers
Spacers
Splinter from Our Own House
Technos
The Bureaucracy
The Central Authority
The Church
The Faith
Yeomen
(Other)
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